Homeless boy in emergency accommodation barred from hotel garden

Homeless children put up in a hotel are banned from playing in the garden but dogs are allowed, a parliamentary watchdog has heard.

Fr Peter McVerry revealed a seven-year-old boy in the emergency accommodation asked his mother why animals could go into the space on a sunny day but his family could not.

“I heard the story of one family, they were living in an hotel bedroom, they are not allowed to mix with other residents, they are not allowed to eat in the restaurant,” said Fr McVerry.